The SPP spacecraft will launch aboard a Delta IV Heavy rocket from Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Launch is targeted for July 31, 2018, at the opening of a 20-day launch period. The total contract award amount for launch services is $389.1 million.

SPP will be the first mission to fly through the sun’s outer atmosphere -- the solar corona -- to examine two fundamental aspects of solar physics: why the corona is so much hotter than the sun’s surface, and what accelerates the solar wind that affects Earth and our solar system. Understanding these fundamental phenomena has been a top-priority science goal for more than five decades. SPP will orbit the sun 24 times, closing to within 3.9 million miles of its surface with the help of seven Venus flybys.

The Launch Services Program at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida is responsible for management and oversight of the Delta IV Heavy launch services for SPP. The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory is designing and building the spacecraft for NASA’s Living with a Star Program, managed by the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

Oh so they did go for the Delta IV-H in the end. Did think Falcon 9H was unlikely because of its newness as a launcher also the lack of relevant upper stage needed due to high energy needs of this launch. As a general point it will be good to see the Heavy on another rare civilian launch.

Good stuff and good article. Wow, a Star-48 on a D-IVH--that's noteworthy in itself. Is the need for such a big LV due to the mass of the spacecraft? I imagine to fly through the corona will require plenty of shielding/mass.

Delta IV Heavy + Star-48 and they still need seven Venus flybys? Wow, that's a lot of delta-v.BTW, now ULA will be able to say "from the Sun to Pluto, we can launch your payload". You do have to give them that.But I still wonder if there was a developed SEP stage if it wouldn't work better for inner solar system missions (like a Mercury lander or a polar solar probe.

My guess is that shielding will be essential not only for high temperatures, but to protect against charged particles from Solar flares/CMEs, gamma and x-rays, etc. If the Sun can rattle the electronic nerves of a geostationary satellite 93 million miles away, imagine what it could do to a much closer spacecraft.

NASA is beginning the process of procuring a launch vehicle for solar probe plus: https://www.fbo.gov/?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=3060e9441252d36ffceae289a1fef314&tab=core&_cview=0 . The mass is 685 kg and the C3 is 154 km^2/s^2. I believe this is beyond what Falcon 9 can handle, even with a kick stage. The solicitation requires "at least one successful flight of the common launch vehicle configuration...prior to the proposal due date, which is anticipated to be September 2014," and Falcon Heavy isn't expected to launch until 2015, so it looks like SpaceX will not be eligible to bid. Presumably an Atlas will win.

It wouldn't be an Atlas because such a solicitation is not needed to buy an Atlas. Atlas is already on the NLS II contract.

The launch energy is much higher than most interplanetary missions and requires a powerful three-stage launch system. The maximum launch C3 over the 20-day launch period is 154 km2/s2. The baseline launch system is an EELV (Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle) Delta IV Heavy class launch vehicle with a standard Star 48 BV upper stage. During the Phase B development, an EELV Atlas V 551 launch vehicle was assumed. The recent switch to the more powerful Delta IV Heavy class launch vehicle will allow for more launch mass and increase spacecraft mass margin for the Phase C development.

They were playing around with an enhanced Star-48 at one point (trying to keep it on Atlas).

Also from the SPP thread, the D4H with Star 48BV just selected has been the baseline vehicle throughout Phase C work.

The STAR 48BV has been qualified (1993) as an upper stage for EER System’s Conestoga Vehicle. The STAR 48V is derived from the highly successful STAR 48B (TE-M-711 series) rocket motor. The STAR 48V provides the same range of total impulse as the STAR 48B with the long exit cone and includes an electromechanically actuated flexseal nozzle thrust vector control system for use on a nonspinning spacecraft. Case attachment features can be modified or relocated for varying applications without requalification.

The STAR 48BV has been qualified (1993) as an upper stage for EER System’s Conestoga Vehicle. The STAR 48V is derived from the highly successful STAR 48B (TE-M-711 series) rocket motor. The STAR 48V provides the same range of total impulse as the STAR 48B with the long exit cone and includes an electromechanically actuated flexseal nozzle thrust vector control system for use on a nonspinning spacecraft. Case attachment features can be modified or relocated for varying applications without requalification.

Oh so they did go for the Delta IV-H in the end. Did think Falcon 9H was unlikely because of its newness as a launcher also the lack of relevant upper stage needed due to high energy needs of this launch. As a general point it will be good to see the Heavy on another rare civilian launch.

@Chris good article.

SpaceX was probably allowed to compete for the contract just as a courtesy. They really had no shot at winning it since Falcon Heavy hasn't even flown once yet. I'm not even sure Falcon Heavy would have the required performance to launch this mission. For ULA to say it won a "competitive procurement" is probably just a way of rubbing it in.

SpaceX was probably allowed to compete for the contract just as a courtesy. They really had no shot at winning it since Falcon Heavy hasn't even flown once yet. I'm not even sure Falcon Heavy would have the required performance to launch this mission. For ULA to say it won a "competitive procurement" is probably just a way of rubbing it in.

If that were true, NASA could have done a sole source justification and not gone through a source competition.

Front page article on GPS IIF-9 states "Due to SPP’s required target orbit, the Delta IV Heavy is the only qualified rocket in the US fleet capable of launching it, and only with the aid of a Star 48B upper stage." So, does this include F9H? It's technically not "in the US fleet" but....

(Dulles, Virginia 3 April 2015) – Orbital ATK (NYSE: OA) is teamed with United Launch Alliance (ULA) to launch NASA’s Solar Probe Plus (SPP) mission on ULA’s Delta IV Heavy rocket. A fully integrated third stage provided by Orbital ATK will give the spacecraft the high-energy boost needed to send it on its mission to study the Sun’s outer atmosphere.

Orbital ATK’s third stage leverages flight-proven inertial navigation, avionics, attitude control and separation systems used on the company’s Pegasus®, Minotaur and Minotaur-C launch vehicles. The venerable STARTM 48BV rocket motor, which traces its roots back to the 1980s, will provide the propulsion. The STAR 48 motor series has logged more than 130 successful missions.

“One of Orbital ATK’s strengths is providing new launch capabilities that leverage flight-proven subsystems,” said Ron Grabe, President of Orbital ATK’s Flight Systems Group. “We are proud to team with ULA to augment the Delta IV Heavy for this very challenging mission.”

After separating from the launch vehicle’s second stage, Orbital ATK’s third stage motor will ignite and accelerate the SPP spacecraft, making it one of the fastest man-made objects in history. During the motor’s nominal burn time of 81 seconds, Orbital ATK’s flight computer and guidance control system will guide the SPP observatory on its way to an elliptical orbit around the Sun. The observatory, using several gravity assists from Venus, will ultimately pass within 10 solar radii of the Sun, many times closer to the sun than the planet Mercury.

The Orbital ATK stage is being designed specifically to support the challenging SPP mission. When vertically integrated, it will measure approximately seven feet tall and four-and-a-half feet in diameter. The stage will be developed at the company’s facilities in Dulles, Virginia; Chandler, Arizona; and Elkton, Maryland.

In addition to the third stage, Orbital ATK’s contributions to the Delta IV Heavy launch vehicle include cutting-edge technologies from across the company. These include 12 key composite structures, manufactured using advanced layup, machining and

The SPP mission, which will enter the Sun’s outer atmosphere to study the streams of charged particles the Sun hurls into space, is scheduled to launch in 2018. The SPP spacecraft is being developed at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland. SPP is part of NASA’s “Living with a Star” program, managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.

NASA’s first mission to “touch” the sun has passed a critical development milestone that keeps it well on track toward its scheduled summer 2018 launch.

Following a successful NASA management review on July 7, the Solar Probe Plus mission — which will send a spacecraft on several daring data-collecting runs through the sun’s atmosphere — is moving into the system assembly, integration, test and launch stage of the project. NASA terms this period as Phase D, during which the mission team will finish building the spacecraft, install its science instruments, test it under simulated launch and space conditions, and launch it.

“Reaching this stage means a lot to the team and our stakeholders,” said Andy Driesman, Solar Probe Plus project manager at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), which manages the mission for NASA and is building the spacecraft. “It shows we’ve designed a spacecraft, instruments and a mission that can address the engineering challenges associated with the harsh solar environment, and send back the data that scientists have sought for decades. It’s humbling to see designs and ideas start to become a spacecraft.”

Solar Probe Plus is set to launch during a 20-day window that opens July 31, 2018. Over 24 orbits, the spacecraft will use seven flybys of Venus to reduce its distance from the sun. The closest three orbits will be within 3.9 million miles of the sun’s surface — roughly seven times closer than any spacecraft has come to our star — where it will face solar intensity more than 500 times what spacecraft experience while orbiting Earth.

This mission of extreme exploration will provide new data on solar activity and contribute significantly to our ability to forecast major space-weather events that impact life on Earth. The primary science goals for Solar Probe Plus are to trace the flow of energy from and understand the heating of the sun’s outer atmosphere — its corona — and to explore the physical mechanisms that accelerate the solar wind, the continuous stream of charged and energetic particles flowing out from the sun. To do that requires sending a probe through the corona to better understand the solar wind and the material it carries into our solar system. It’s been a goal of scientists for nearly 60 years, one that is only possible today through cutting-edge thermal engineering advances.

Solar Probe Plus will carry four instrument suites designed to study magnetic fields, plasma and energetic particles, and image the solar wind. The spacecraft and instruments will be protected from the sun’s heat by a 4.5-inch-thick carbon-composite shield, which will need to withstand temperatures that reach nearly 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit — but keep the spacecraft’s payload operating at room temperature.

Solar Probe Plus is part of NASA’s Living With a Star program to explore aspects of the sun-Earth system that directly affect life and society. LWS is managed by the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington, D.C. APL, in Laurel, Maryland, manages the mission for NASA and is designing and building and will operate the spacecraft.

The Applied Physics Laboratory, a not-for-profit division of The Johns Hopkins University, meets critical national challenges through the innovative application of science and technology. For more information, visit www.jhuapl.edu.

One of many Orbiter simulator addons, Solar Probe, includes a fictional launch scenario of SPP atop an Atlas V 551, which is on July 30, 2018 at 09:43 UTC (5:43 AM EDT). However, the actual launch date is one day later on the 31st and the Delta IV Heavy will boost SPP.

Having explained all that, I ask one question:

Will Solar Probe Plus launch in the early morning of July 31, 2018 or is the time of day earlier or later?

« Last Edit: 12/27/2016 05:30 AM by ZachS09 »

Logged

"Liftoff of Falcon 9: the world's first reflight of an orbital-class rocket."

One of many Orbiter simulator addons, Solar Probe, includes a fictional launch scenario of SPP atop an Atlas V 551, which is on July 30, 2018 at 09:43 UTC (5:43 AM EDT). However, the actual launch date is one day later on the 31st and the Delta IV Heavy will boost SPP.

Having explained all that, I ask one question:

Will Solar Probe Plus launch in the early morning of July 31, 2018 or is the time of day earlier or later?

It is also the first time that a D-IV version of any type will sport a third stage with the SRM version being a Star-48BV.

One of many Orbiter simulator addons, Solar Probe, includes a fictional launch scenario of SPP atop an Atlas V 551, which is on July 30, 2018 at 09:43 UTC (5:43 AM EDT). However, the actual launch date is one day later on the 31st and the Delta IV Heavy will boost SPP.

Having explained all that, I ask one question:

Will Solar Probe Plus launch in the early morning of July 31, 2018 or is the time of day earlier or later?

It is also the first time that a D-IV version of any type will sport a third stage with the SRM version being a Star-48BV.

Not quite - the two DSCS-3 launches used IABS as third stages. But anyway, all third stages on Delta IV are considered part of the payload.

A spacecraft supplied stage is not considered part of the Launch vehicle. Whereas, SPP will use a Delta IV with a third stage, because ULA is supplying it. PNH supplied its own motor and it was not part of the Atlas V. The determining factor is who does the integration of the "stage" with the spacecraft and who buys the hardware for the stage.

A spacecraft supplied stage is not considered part of the Launch vehicle. Whereas, SPP will use a Delta IV with a third stage, because ULA is supplying it. PNH supplied its own motor and it was not part of the Atlas V. The determining factor is who does the integration of the "stage" with the spacecraft and who buys the hardware for the stage.

New Horizons is marked as a three stage launch as it used a Star upper stage on the Atlas V.

Every so often the sun emits an explosive burst of charged particles that makes its way to Earth and often wreaks havoc on power grids, aircraft and satellite systems. When clouds of high-speed charged particles come racing off the sun, they can bathe spacecraft, astronauts and planetary surfaces in damaging radiation. Understanding why the sun occasionally emits these high-energy particles can help scientists predict space weather. Knowing when solar energetic particles may hit Earth can help people on the planet take precautions.

Now, Draper and the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) are addressing these challenges, and hoping to untangle these unsolved science mysteries, by developing sophisticated sensors for a new NASA mission. Launching in 2018, NASA's Solar Probe Plus spacecraft, which is being designed and built by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md., will make 24 solar flybys over nearly seven years, setting a new record for the fastest moving man-made object as it zips 37.6 million kilometers closer to the sun than any spacecraft that has ever studied this star, and be exposed to temperatures exceeding 2500 degrees Fahrenheit.

NASA's Solar Probe Plus—the first mission that will fly into the sun's upper atmosphere and "touch" the sun—will collect data on the mechanisms that heat the corona and accelerate the solar wind, a constant flow of charged particles from the sun. These are two processes with fundamental roles in the complex interconnected system linking the sun and near-Earth space—a system that can drive changes in our space weather and impact our satellites.

Solar Probe Plus is scheduled to launch July 31, 2018 atop one of the last Delta IV Heavy launch vehicles.

It's mission: Approach the sun and explore the mysteries of its corona, nearing the star as close as 3.9 million miles (6.2 million km). To do this, it's going to require a state-of-the-art thermal protection system that shields from temperatures as high as 2,500 degrees F (1,377 C).

To adjust its course, SPP will make 7 flybys of Venus. The wide orbits between Venus and the sun will take place over the probe's expected mission duration of over 6 years, well into 2025.

I'm officially interested in SPP because of a recent bit of awesomeness I've experienced.

Thanks to the "Space Hipsters" Facebook club, I toured the United Launch Alliance rocket factory on April 28. While we weren't allowed to take photos on the tour, we were shown all three cores of SPP's Delta IV Heavy, as well as the Atlas Vs that would launch TDRS-M and a few other missions in the near future. Since the D-IV uses H2/O2, its stage's volume made the otherwise-impressive Atlas Vs, which use RP-1 and O2, look outright skinny.

Sitting not far away was a large white shipping box from NPO Energomash: Engines for the Atlas V. The TDRS-M launch vehicle sat, mostly complete, with a pair of the engines with their gray nozzles.

As we know, the Delta rockets are being phased out. As this construction ends, ULA had made a couple of spots for welding machines for use with Vulcan construction as well as CST-100 Starliner work. Sadly, no Starliners there yet.

ULA builds all the rockets from aluminum plate at the factory, water-cut to form a triangular grid on one side that reinforces the vehicle's thickness while saving weight. These flat sheets are rounded to the desired dimensions. Tanks are created from aluminum sheets no thicker than a US dime coin. Both domes and sides are welded once complete. The Centaur's tanks are so light, they must reside in special frames as they cannot support their own weight.

Also on the tour were construction and pressure testing of the Centaur upper stages. In a special clean room sat the Centaur for SPP and four other missions.

It's one thing to visit a museum, see replicas of rockets and simulators of past spacecraft and never-flown vehicles of times gone by. But I have seen SPP's massive rocket, up-close enough to touch it, getting to see everything save the probe itself, built elsewhere. It's humbling to see real rockets that will fly, built from the ground up, as close as I did. An incredible day.

May 26, 2017 MEDIA ADVISORY M17-061NASA to Make Announcement About First Mission to Touch Sun

Solar Probe Plus spacecraft leaving Earth

This illustration depicts the Solar Probe Plus spacecraft leaving Earth, after separating from its launch vehicle and booster rocket, bound for the inner solar system and an unprecedented study of the Sun.Credits: JHU/APLNASA will make an announcement about the agency’s first mission to fly directly into our sun’s atmosphere during an event at 11 a.m. EDT Wednesday, May 31, from the University of Chicago’s William Eckhardt Research Center Auditorium. The event will air live on NASA Television and the agency’s website.

The mission, Solar Probe Plus, is scheduled to launch in the summer of 2018. Placed in orbit within four million miles of the sun’s surface, and facing heat and radiation unlike any spacecraft in history, the spacecraft will explore the sun’s outer atmosphere and make critical observations that will answer decades-old questions about the physics of how stars work. The resulting data will improve forecasts of major space weather events that impact life on Earth, as well as satellites and astronauts in space.

Participants include:

Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in WashingtonNicola Fox, mission project scientist at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, MarylandEugene Parker, S. Chandrasekhar Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus at the University of ChicagoEric Isaacs, executive vice president for research, innovation and national laboratories at the University of ChicagoRocky Kolb, dean of the Division of the Physical Sciences at the University of ChicagoFor more information on the mission and agency solar-related activities, visit:

I think this would not be a good sign for the mission schedule: there are already a significant number of FH flights waiting for 2017-18 even without being late. At t-0 minus 1 year, change of vehicle would also be challenging in terms of payload adapter vibration testing, acoustic testing, mission profile... I guess it would be too much change in the given timeframe.

My 2 cents is they will just announce the spaceship is complete and they are getting in final testing and preps.

I think this would not be a good sign for the mission schedule: there are already a significant number of FH flights waiting for 2017-18 even without being late. At t-0 minus 1 year, change of vehicle would also be challenging in terms of payload adapter vibration testing, acoustic testing, mission profile... I guess it would be too much change in the given timeframe.

My 2 cents is they will just announce the spaceship is complete and they are getting in final testing and preps.

The Falcon Heavy would still be too unproven for this flagship mission in 2018 I suspect.

Could you do this with an Expendable F9 Block 4/5?.. With added Star 48 the high thrust F9 2nd stage might help you.

Maybe if they'd gone this way...

From Wikipedia :In 2013 a Star 48GXV was tested for the Solar Probe Plus mission as the upper stage on a Atlas V 551 vehicle,[13] but the development was cancelled, in favor of a Delta IV Heavy / Star 48BV conbination.[14]

Why would this have anything to do with the launch vehicle? I'm trying to remember the last NASA science mission that held a special announcement to discuss the launch vehicle. The panelists are investigators. I think there are MUCH better reasons to hold a special science misssion announcement besides a launch vehicle update.

Chris Whoever loves correction loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.

To the maximum extent practicable, the Federal Government shall plan missions to accommodate the space transportation services capabilities of United States commercial providers. US law http://goo.gl/YZYNt0

NASA has renamed the Solar Probe Plus spacecraft — humanity’s first mission to a star, which will launch in 2018 — as the Parker Solar Probe in honor of astrophysicist Eugene Parker. The announcement was made at a ceremony at the University of Chicago, where Parker serves as the S. Chandrasekhar Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus, Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics.

In 1958, Parker — then a young professor at the university’s Enrico Fermi Institute — published an article in the Astrophysical Journal called “Dynamics of the interplanetary gas and magnetic fields.” Parker believed there was high speed matter and magnetism constantly escaping the sun, and that it affected the planets and space throughout our solar system.

This phenomenon, now known as the solar wind, has been proven to exist repeatedly through direct observation. Parker’s work forms the basis for much of our understanding about how stars interact with the worlds that orbit them.

“This is the first time NASA has named a spacecraft for a living individual,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. “It’s a testament to the importance of his body of work, founding a new field of science that also inspired my own research and many important science questions NASA continues to study and further understand every day. I’m very excited to be personally involved honoring a great man and his unprecedented legacy.”

“The solar probe is going to a region of space that has never been explored before,” said Parker. “It’s very exciting that we’ll finally get a look. One would like to have some more detailed measurements of what’s going on in the solar wind. I’m sure that there will be some surprises. There always are.”

In the 1950s, Parker proposed a number of concepts about how stars — including our sun — give off energy. He called this cascade of energy the solar wind, and he described an entire complex system of plasmas, magnetic fields and energetic particles that make up this phenomenon. Parker also theorized an explanation for the superheated solar atmosphere, the corona, which is — contrary to what was expected by physics laws — hotter than the surface of the sun itself. Many NASA missions have continued to focus on this complex space environment defined by our star — a field of research known as heliophysics.

“Parker Solar Probe is going to answer questions about solar physics that we’ve puzzled over for more than six decades,” said Parker Solar Probe Project Scientist Nicola Fox, of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. “It’s a spacecraft loaded with technological breakthroughs that will solve many of the largest mysteries about our star, including finding out why the sun’s corona is so much hotter than its surface. And we’re very proud to be able to carry Gene’s name with us on this amazing voyage of discovery.”

NASA missions are most often renamed after launch and certification; in this case, given Parker’s accomplishments within the field, and how closely aligned this mission is with his research, the decision was made to honor him prior to launch, in order to draw attention to his important contributions to heliophysics and space science.

Born on June 10, 1927, in Michigan, Eugene Newman Parker received a Bachelor of Science in physics from Michigan State University and a doctorate from Caltech. He then taught at the University of Utah, and since 1955, Parker has held faculty positions at the University of Chicago and at its Fermi Institute. He has received numerous awards for his research, including the George Ellery Hale Prize, the National Medal of Science, the Bruce Medal, the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society, the Kyoto Prize, and the James Clerk Maxwell Prize.

Parker Solar Probe is on track for launch during a 20-day window that opens July 31, 2018. The mission is part of NASA’s Living With a Star program to explore aspects of the sun-Earth system that directly affect life and society. LWS is managed by the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington, D.C. Johns Hopkins APL manages the mission for NASA and is designing and building and will operate the spacecraft.

On May 31, NASA renamed humanity’s first mission to fly a spacecraft directly into the sun’s atmosphere in honor of Professor Eugene Parker, a pioneering physicist at the University of Chicago. This is the first time in agency history a spacecraft has been named for a living individual. Parker, the S. Chandrasekhar Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus in Physics, is best known for developing the concept of solar wind—the stream of electrically charged particles emitted by the sun.

Previously named Solar Probe Plus, the Parker Solar Probe will launch in summer 2018. Placed in orbit within four million miles of the sun’s surface, and facing heat and radiation unlike any spacecraft in history, the spacecraft will explore the sun’s outer atmosphere and make critical observations that will answer decades-old questions about the physics of how stars work. The resulting data will improve forecasts of major space weather events that impact life on Earth, as well as satellites and astronauts in space.

The Robust Cooling System of a NASA Spacecraft Flying Into the Sun's Atmosphere

The Parker Solar Probe requires some clever engineering to keep the systems cool.

Quote

Interestingly enough, the prefered coolant for the spacecraft's solar panels is water. "Part of the NASA technology demonstration funding was used by APL and our partners at UTAS to survey a variety of coolants," said Mary Kae Lockwood, the Parker Solar Probe spacecraft system engineer at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab (APL). "But for the temperature range we required [about 50° F to 257° F], and for the mass constraints, water was the solution."

The water will be pressurized, which will raise its boiling point above 257° F, and a deionization process will strip the water of any minerals that could gum up the system. Although the TPS will get as hot as 2,500° F, the cooling system is designed to keep the solar panels at a functional 360° F or lower. Flying through the sun's atmosphere, the panels will 25 times the solar energy that panels receive in Earth orbit.

Using a solar array for a craft heading to the sun sounds obvious, but figuring out how to keep the panels from being destroyed in the intense heat is more complicated. There will be a standard cover of glass protecting the photovoltaic cells as well as a special ceramic carrier soldered onto the bottom of each cell. The ceramic substrate, called a platen, will then be glued on with a thermally conductive adhesive.

Quote

"There's no way to make these adjustments from the ground, which means it has to guide itself," Lockwood said. "APL developed a variety of systems—including wing angle control, guidance and control, electrical power system, avionics, fault management, autonomy and flight software—that are critical parts working with the solar array cooling system." The Parker Solar Probe is expected to be one of the most autonomous spacecraft ever launched, if not the most autonomous.

Launch preparations are beginning to get off the ground for NASA’s upcoming Parker Solar Probe mission, scheduled to lift off in summer 2018 atop a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket.

Two of the three common booster cores comprising the rocket’s first stage have arrived on the company’s Mariner ship, which delivered the components to Port Canaveral in Florida. From there the cores were offloaded and transported to the Horizontal Processing Facility at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 37.

The Parker Solar Probe will perform the closest-ever observations of a star when it travels through the Sun’s atmosphere, called the corona. The probe will rely on measurements and imaging to revolutionize our understanding of the corona and the Sun-Earth connection.

<snip>Launch preparations are beginning to get off the ground for NASA’s upcoming Parker Solar Probe mission, scheduled to lift off in summer 2018 atop a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket.

Two of the three common booster cores comprising the rocket’s first stage have arrived on the company’s Mariner ship, which delivered the components to Port Canaveral in Florida. From there the cores were offloaded and transported to the Horizontal Processing Facility at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 37.<snip>

Do two of three Delta IV cores max-out the capacity of the Delta Mariner?

If not, was there any other Delta or Atlas hardware transported on this run?***

Also, there's only ONE Delta IV Canaveral launch currently scheduled between now and Solar Probe Plus on July 31, 2018--GPS III-1.

Final Rocket Components Arrive in Florida for Parker Solar ProbePosted on September 1, 2017 at 3:06 pm by Anna Heiney.

All components of the United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket that will launch NASA’s Parker Solar Probe have arrived for prelaunch processing at Florida’s Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

The Port Common Booster Core of the Delta IV Heavy for the Parker Solar Probe (PSP) Mission is offloaded from the Mariner and transported to the Horizontal Integration Facility. The rocket’s second stage arrived Saturday, Aug. 26, along with the third and final common booster core, which will complete the first stage. The hardware was delivered by ship to Port Canaveral, then transported by truck to the Horizontal Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 37.

The Parker Solar Probe will perform the closest-ever observations of a star when it travels through the Sun’s atmosphere, called the corona. The probe will rely on measurements and imaging to revolutionize our understanding of the corona and the Sun-Earth connection.

The Port Common Booster Core of the Delta IV Heavy for the Parker Solar Probe Mission is offloaded from the Mariner ship for transport to the Horizontal Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 37. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky.

Caption for 3rd photo:

Quote

Sunrise is reflected in the side of the Mariner ship and in the water of Port Canaveral below. Photo credit: NASA/Cory Huston

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe will be humanity’s first-ever mission to explore the Sun’s outer atmosphere. Media are invited to see the spacecraft and learn about the mission from noon to 2 p.m. EDT Monday, Sept. 25, at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, where the probe is being built.

The spacecraft will be in full flight configuration, complete with its revolutionary heat shield, and members of the engineering and science teams conducting this historical mission will be available for interviews.

Media who would like to attend must register with APL by sending an email with name, affiliation and cell phone number to [email protected] no later than 5 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 22. Instructions on attendance will be provided upon registration.

Due to facility limitations, the number of participants is limited, and the event is open only to U.S. citizens. The event will take place in a clean room. Attendees should allow additional time for cleaning of cameras and equipment by APL staff.

The spacecraft, about the size of a small car, will launch in mid-summer 2018. It will travel directly through the Sun's atmosphere about four million miles from our star's surface – facing heat and radiation unlike any spacecraft in history – and make critical observations to answer decades-old questions about how stars work. Mission data ultimately will improve forecasts of major space weather events that affect life on Earth, as well as satellites and astronauts in space.

In this time-lapse video taken on Sept. 21, 2017, the thermal protection system – the heat shield -- for NASA’s Parker Solar Probe spacecraft is shown during installation at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland. This 4.5-inch thick, eight-foot diameter shield protects the spacecraft and its instruments against the intense heat and energy of the Sun’s outer atmosphere, the corona, through which the spacecraft will fly on a mission of extreme exploration. The thermal protection system is made of a carbon-carbon composite material with a special outer coating that will reach temperatures of nearly 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit. The heat shield was placed on the probe for a test of alignment as part of integration and testing, but it will soon be removed. Both spacecraft and shield will continue separate testing processes and then be re-integrated just before launch in summer 2018.

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe, the first mission to fly into the Sun’s corona, has successfully completed a review that approves the beginning of the spacecraft’s environmental testing.

A review panel of engineers from NASA and the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, where the spacecraft was designed and is being built, declared on September 29 that Parker Solar Probe has passed required performance tests and can move into environmental testing.

For Parker Solar Probe, this means the probe will be subjected to a series of challenging simulations of launch and space operations that will ensure the spacecraft is up to the difficult task of exploring the extreme environment of the Sun’s atmosphere – the corona. The spacecraft will first be bolted to a vibration table at APL, which will simulate the violent physical forces of launch; Parker Solar Probe will be lifted skyward on a Delta IV-Heavy launch vehicle, the largest in the world currently in operation. The spacecraft has already completed mass properties testing, which is important for mating to the launch vehicle and for maneuvering and attitude control.

In early November, the spacecraft will travel a short distance to the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, where it will be subjected to acoustic, thermal cycling, and vacuum testing that will make sure the probe can withstand the sound generated at launch and the dramatic swings of hot and cold that it will be subjected to following launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, in summer 2018.

“It’s a testament to the hard work and diligence of the Parker Solar Probe team that we successfully completed our review, and we’re excited to move forward into environmental testing,” said Andy Driesman of APL, the Parker Solar Probe project manager. “We’re looking forward to completing these tests, and then heading to Florida to begin the preparations for next year’s launch.”

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe spacecraft will explore the Sun’s outer atmosphere and make critical observations that will answer decades-old questions about the physics of stars. The resulting data will also improve forecasts of major eruptions on the sun and subsequent space weather events that impact life on Earth, as well as satellites and astronauts in space. The mission is named for Eugene N. Parker, whose profound insights into solar physics and processes have guided the discipline.

Engineers and technicians prepare the Parker Solar Probe spacecraft for mass properties testing. This marks the beginning of environmental testing, a series of physical tests that will ensure the probe can withstand the rigors of launch and temperature fluctuations of space operations. Credit: NASA/JHUAPL

NASA's Parker Solar Probe is in the midst of intense environmental testing at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, in preparation for its journey to the Sun. These tests simulate the noise and shaking the spacecraft will experience during its launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, scheduled for 2018.

Parker Solar Probe’s integration and the testing team must check over the spacecraft and systems to make sure everything is still in optimal working condition after experiencing these rigorous conditions – including a check of the solar arrays, which will provide electrical power to the spacecraft.

Parker Solar Probe will explore the Sun's outer atmosphere and make critical observations that will answer decades-old questions about the physics of stars. The resulting data will also help improve how we forecast major eruptions on the Sun and subsequent space weather events that can impact life on Earth, as well as satellites and astronauts in space. The mission is named for Eugene N. Parker, whose profound insights into solar physics and processes have helped shape the field of heliophysics.

March 21, 2018 MEDIA ADVISORY M18-050Media Invited to View NASA Spacecraft That Will Touch the Sun

Media are invited to view NASA’s Parker Solar Probe spacecraft at 9:30 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, March 28, at the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The spacecraft will embark this summer on a daring trek, traveling closer to the Sun than any spacecraft in history.

The Sun is the only star that can be studied up close. In addition to helping solve how stars throughout the universe drive heat, radiation, energy and particles out into space, data from the spacecraft will help scientists better understand how this constant solar outpouring can create hazardous space weather events near Earth. Space weather can impact not only astronauts living and working in space, but also interfere with satellites and radio signals.

Media attending the event will have an opportunity to interview the mission team as well as view the spacecraft from outside the cleanroom where it is undergoing final testing before it ships to NASA’s Kennedy Space Flight Center in Florida for a scheduled July 31 launch.

Media may contact Haley Reed at haley.p.r[email protected] or 301- 286-3131 for further information.

Parker Solar Probe is part of NASA’s Living with a Star (LWS) Program to explore aspects of the Sun-Earth system that directly affect life and society. LWS is managed by Goddard for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, manages the mission for NASA. APL designed and built the spacecraft, and also will operate it.

The second stage of a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy is being mated to the common booster core inside the Horizontal Integration Facility near Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The Delta IV Heavy will launch NASA's upcoming Parker Solar Probe mission in July 2018. The mission will perform the closest-ever observations of a star when it travels through the Sun's atmosphere, called the corona. The probe will rely on measurements and imaging to revolutionize our understanding of the corona and the Sun-Earth connection.

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has arrived in Florida to begin final preparations for its launch to the Sun, scheduled for July 31, 2018.

In the middle of the night on April 2, the spacecraft was driven from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, to nearby Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. From there, it was flown by the United States Air Force’s 436th Airlift Wing to Space Coast Regional Airport in Titusville, Florida, where it arrived at 10:40 a.m. EDT. It was then transported a short distance to Astrotech Space Operations, also in Titusville, where it will continue testing, and eventually undergo final assembly and mating to the third stage of the Delta IV Heavy launch vehicle.

Parker Solar Probe is humanity’s first mission to the Sun. After launch, it will orbit directly through the solar atmosphere – the corona – closer to the surface than any human-made object has ever gone. While facing brutal heat and radiation, the mission will reveal fundamental science behind what drives the solar wind, the constant outpouring of material from the Sun that shapes planetary atmospheres and affects space weather near Earth.

“Parker Solar Probe and the team received a smooth ride from the Air Force C-17 crew from the 436th,” said Andy Driesman, Parker Solar Probe project manager from the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland. “This is the second most important flight Parker Solar Probe will make, and we’re excited to be safely in Florida and continuing pre-launch work on the spacecraft.”

At Astrotech, Parker Solar Probe was taken to a clean room and removed from its protective shipping container on Wednesday, April 4. The spacecraft then began a series of tests to verify that it had safely made the journey to Florida. For the next several months, the spacecraft will undergo comprehensive testing; just prior to being fueled, one of the most critical elements of the spacecraft, the thermal protection system (TPS), or heat shield, will be installed. The TPS is the breakthrough technology that will allow Parker Solar Probe to survive the temperatures in the Sun’s corona, just 3.8 million miles from the surface of our star.

“There are many milestones to come for Parker Solar Probe and the amazing team of men and women who have worked so diligently to make this mission a reality,” said Driesman. “The installation of the TPS will be our final major step before encapsulation and integration onto the launch vehicle.”

Parker Solar Probe will be launched from Launch Complex-37 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The two-hour launch window opens at approximately 4 a.m. EDT on July 31, 2018, and is repeated each day (at slightly earlier times) through August 19.

Throughout its seven-year mission, Parker Solar Probe will explore the Sun's outer atmosphere and make critical observations to answer decades-old questions about the physics of stars. Its data will also be useful in improving forecasts of major eruptions on the Sun and the subsequent space weather events that impact technology on Earth, as well as satellites and astronauts in space. The mission is named for University of Chicago Professor Emeritus Eugene N. Parker, whose profound insights into solar physics and processes have guided the discipline. It is the first NASA mission named for a living individual.

Parker Solar Probe is part of NASA’s Living With a Star Program to explore aspects of the connected Sun-Earth system that directly affect life and society. Living With a Star is managed by the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Johns Hopkins APL designed, built, and manages the mission for NASA. Instrument teams are led by researchers from the University of California, Berkeley; the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor; Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C.; Princeton University in New Jersey; and the Smithsonian Astrophysics Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

United Launch Alliance of Centennial, Colorado, is the provider of the Delta IV launch service for Parker Solar Probe. NASA’s Launch Services Program (LSP), based at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, manages the agency’s efforts to commercially provide rockets for specific missions. LSP also directs the overall launch effort including overseeing development and integration of the rocket with the spacecraft.

As those preparations continue, officials are studying problems with devices known as platinum resistance thermometers that are part of the spacecraft’s thermal control system. Those devices have suffered a higher-than-expected failure rate, according to a presentation at an April 5 meeting of NASA’s Heliophysics Advisory Committee.

The thermometers are lightweight, highly sensitive temperature sensors used to help provide feedback to the spacecraft’s cooling system and solar arrays, NASA spokesman Dwayne Brown said April 9. “We put all spacecraft through a rigorous test program to make sure all systems are working as designed and it is normal for a test program to uncover issues.”

“The team is looking very carefully at whether any change is needed,” Peg Luce, acting director of NASA’s heliophysics division, said at the meeting. The issue, she said, was debated “quite significantly” at a review last week to approve the shipment of the spacecraft to Florida, including whether to delay that shipment to study the problem.

“There are certain, possible fixes if we need to fix something that could be done at the Cape, so the decision was to go ahead and ship,” she said.

The first stage of a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket is at the Vertical Integration Facility near Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The Delta IV Heavy will launch NASA's upcoming Parker Solar Probe mission in July 2018. The mission will perform the closest-ever observations of a star when it travels through the Sun's atmosphere, called the corona. The probe will rely on measurements and imaging to revolutionize our understanding of the corona and the Sun-Earth connection. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky

Posted on 04/27/2018 14:00:57NASA’s Parker Solar Probe is moved to a special stand and rotated down to a horizontal position on April 10 during pre-launch processing and testing at Astrotech Space Operations in Titusville, Florida, just outside Kennedy Space Center. Once horizontal, the integration and testing team measured the alignment of the Thermal Protection System (TPS) mounting points with respect to the spacecraft structure. This is done to assure that the umbra (or shadow) cast by the TPS – the heat shield – protects the spacecraft and instruments.

The first mission to touch the Sun – Parker Solar Probe will fly through the intense heat of the Sun’s corona, protected by a revolutionary heat shield – is scheduled for launch at about 4 a.m. on July 31, 2018.

On the morning of Tuesday, April 17, 2018, crews from United Launch Alliance raised the 170-foot tall Delta IV Heavy launch vehicle – the largest and most powerful rocket currently used by NASA – at Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. This Delta IV Heavy will carry Parker Solar Probe, humanity’s first mission to the Sun’s corona, on its journey to explore the Sun’s atmosphere and the solar wind. Launch is scheduled for approximately 4 a.m. EDT on July 31, 2018.

The launch vehicle consists of three Common Booster Cores, with a second stage on the center core; the encapsulated spacecraft, is scheduled to arrive in early July for integration onto the rocket. The spacecraft is now at Astrotech Space Operations in nearby Titusville undergoing final integration and testing. Parker Solar Probe will be the fastest human-made object in the solar system, traveling at speeds of up to 430,000 miles per hour (700,000 kilometers per hour).

The PSP project continues to target an August 2018planetary launch, but the project is encountering anumber of technical issues that may lead to a scheduledelay. Maintaining the project’s 2018 launch window isimportant because a potential window only opens every10 months. The 2019 launch window would result in alonger mission duration and require more fuel, and afterthat, the next window that meets requirements is 2023.The project continues to hold schedule reserves at AppliedPhysics Laboratory-recommended levels, but the projectis tracking a risk that there may not be adequate reservesto address any future issues that may arise. The project isalso tracking a risk that it may exhaust its cost reserves infiscal year 2018 addressing instrument issues and retainingproject staff, which could lead to the need for additionalheadquarters-held cost reserves.

Launch

In September 2017, while testing the interface betweenthe launch vehicle and the spacecraft, three of the sixseparation nuts failed to release their bolts. If this occurredduring launch, it would result in a total mission failure.NASA’s Launch Services Program, which obtained launchservices for PSP, initiated an anomaly investigation. Thisinvestigation determined that the bolts were improperlyinstalled. The investigation board identified correctiveactions, which have passed initial tests. The separationsystem plan includes completing qualification testing byApril 2018 and includes schedule margin. However, ifadditional issues are identified, the project could potentiallymiss the 2018 launch window.

Integration and Test

The Solar Probe Cup (SPC), which is part of an instrumentpackage necessary to meet top-level mission requirementsto gather information about particles in the solar wind, hasencountered several technical issues during integrationand testing. For example, recent testing has identifiedscenarios where the spacecraft’s different operatingtemperature environments could result in twisting betweenthe SPC and spacecraft, which could lead to cracks overtime. To mitigate this risk, the project is conducting testingto determine the scope of this issue. If twisting could occurrepeatedly throughout the mission, the project will considerde-scoping the SPC, which would require approval fromNASA. The project plans to make a decision in March 2018about whether to fly the SPC.

Other Issues to Be Monitored

The project is tracking a risk that an alloy used in severallocations on the spacecraft will release gases whenexposed to the high temperatures found where thespacecraft is intended to operate. The released gases canlater re-solidify and contaminate the spacecraft. The alloy isfound in three locations, supporting two instrument suites,on the spacecraft—the four FIELDS whip antennas, theirrespective thermal shields, and the SPC thermal shield—which are required to meet top-level mission requirements.Testing to understand the alloy’s performance revealedthat the alloy released gases even at temperatures muchcooler than where the spacecraft will operate. The projectis pursuing two mitigations. First, it is conducting tests todevelop a contamination model, which should indicatethe effects, if any, the re-solidified gases have on thespacecraft and help project officials determine if it is safeto fly the spacecraft with the existing alloy. Second, officialstold us that they have ordered new material which couldbe used to replace the four FIELDS whip antennas and theSPC thermal shield. The project plans to make a decisionif they will replace existing parts with the new material byFebruary 2018. The project cannot replace the FIELDSthermal shields, so they have designed and implementedan additional shield, which will undergo testing in March2018.

Solar Power: Parker Solar Probe Tests Its ArraysPosted on 05/07/2018 12:03:00NASA’s Parker Solar Probe gets its power from the Sun, so the solar arrays that collect energy from our star need to be in perfect working order. This month, members of the mission team tested the arrays at Astrotech Space Operations in Titusville, Florida, to ensure the system performs as designed and provides power to the spacecraft during its historic mission to the Sun.

Parker Solar Probe is powered by two solar arrays, totaling just under 17 square feet (1.55 square meters) in area. They are mounted to motorized arms that will retract almost all of their surface behind the Thermal Protection System – the heat shield – when the spacecraft is close to the Sun.

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe is powered by two solar arrays, shown here on May 2, 2018, at Astrotech Space Operations in Titusville, Florida.

Andrew Gerger, an engineer from the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, prepares to conduct an inspection of one of the solar arrays from NASA’s Parker Solar Probe on May 2, 2018, at Astrotech Space Operations in Titusville, Florida.

Andrew Gerger of the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory inspects one of NASA’s Parker Solar Probe’s two solar panels by passing current through the array, which causes it to glow red and allows him to examine each individual solar cell. The testing occurred on May 2, 2018, at Astrotech Space Operations in Titusville, Florida.

Andrew Gerger of the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory and Rick Stall of Newforge Technologies check and adjust a purple laser using a replica of a solar array wing on May 3, 2018. Later, when the solar arrays are attached to the spacecraft, the laser will be used to illuminate each string of cells on the array to confirm the string is connected and will provide power to the spacecraft.

Making sure a critical sensor that will fly aboard NASA’s $1.5 billion Parker Solar Probe will work properly when the spacecraft is being blasted by fierce light and radiation a scant 6.2 million kilometres (3.9 million miles) from the Sun is no small task.

But researchers at the University of Michigan who manage the spacecraft’s Solar Wind Electrons Alphas and Protons investigation – SWEAP – came up with a novel solution. They bought four vintage IMAX movie projectors on eBay for a few thousand dollars each that could be rigged to simulate the expected heat at close range to Earth’s star.

The SWEAP sensor, known as a Faraday cup, was mounted in a vacuum chamber at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Mass., that was pumped down to one-billionth of an atmosphere. The light from the four projectors was directed into the chamber and onto the Faraday cup.

“It turns out a movie theatre bulb on an IMAX projector runs at about the same 5,700 degrees Kelvin, the same effective temperature as the surface of the Sun,” Justin Kasper, the instrument’s principal investigator at the University of Michigan, said in a release. “And it gives off nearly the same spectrum of light as the surface.”

In addition to a chip containing submitted names, the plaque installed on the Parker Solar Probe spacecraft also contains a dedication to and quote from Eugene Parker, the mission’s namesake. It reads: "The Parker Solar Probe mission is dedicated to Dr. Eugene N. Parker whose profound contributions have revolutionized our understanding of the Sun and solar wind. 'Let's see what lies ahead' Gene Parker, July 2017"